So it starts...

First of all, kuddos to my friend Ryan for getting me to rethink the use of a blog to keep track of my running. (see his blog here). I am excited to get back to Chicago and run my 5th marathon (2nd Chicago). Ryan, can't wait to run Boston with you in 2007. Yes, we both will be there. Funny how you got me running this crazy things with Pittsburgh in 2003, and you, Justin, Aaron and myself are all gunning for Boston. Can't wait to line up with Aaron and you.

So I am excited...the legs have been coming back lately. About time, 3 months of conditioning after having to take off 4 due to my knee and ankle injuries. Just goes to show in my aging body, I need to allow myself to recover/heal. Twisitng my ankle last summer and running through it only creating more issues. A bad case of Plantar Fascitis which caused some knee pain due to me changing my stride. It took over 4 months to get rid of the Fascitis. Ugghhh... The worst part was taking off the winter pushed my weight up to 180. That's 20 pounds over my ideal marathon weight. Since April I have shed of about 12 of it...about a pound a week! Unfortunately, that leaves me pretty tired at times.

Anyway, I am on the last week of my "pre" marathon training schedule. My Chicago goals are

• Ecstatic - A sub 3
• Can live with (funny I say that) - a sub 3:10

Just some overall training accomplishments so far

• Last Thursday - Tempo Run day. 3 mile warmup at about 7:45 pace. The next 2 miles were hilly, but we managed 6:54 pace. Which I thought was great. A little race developed amongst us and we finished the next 2 miles @ 6:01 and 6:14. I was floored. It was one of those break-through runs.
• Last Saturday ran in the heat (80+) but finished 14 miles.
• Today - ran 1 mile repeats in 5:53, 5:43, and 5:58 after a comfortable 3 mile warmup.

My general training goals are this

• Focus of 4 key workouts a week. Long run on Saturdays. Tempo on Tuesdays. Mid week long run on Wednesdays. Interval training on Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays will be days I try to get in a comfortable mid distance (6-8 miles)
• Long runs will be slower than I have done in years past (mid 8's to 9 minutes a mile)...but I hope to be able to run more miles in a week this way.

My question is, does anyone have any opinion about that approach? In 2003 I ran a similar schedule while training for Philadelphia, but I seemed to run most of my distance runs (non tempo, non interval) at about 7:20-7:30 pace. It seemed I was always tired and I found ways to skip some runs. My total weekly mileage never got above the mid 40s.

Up next...post my week 1 schedule.